Revamped UMass Dartmouth library opens its doors to returning students

As students returned to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Tuesday for the start of the spring semester, they were greeted with the near completion of the $45 million renovation of the Claire T. Carney Library.

As students returned to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Tuesday for the start of the spring semester, they were greeted with the near completion of the $45 million renovation of the Claire T. Carney Library.

“This facility went from a library that was barely functioning to something that will really be used by our students day in and day out,” said Catherine Fortier-Barnes, assistant dean of library services.

While it was only the first day of classes, students were already taking advantage of the massive 25,000-square-foot addition, which was created as a community space, and the new entrance to the library, with a Starbucks cafe and gas fireplaces.

What was once a dark walkway through gray cement piers is now a bright, light-soaked common area with high glass curtain walls and color accents of vibrant reds and oranges. Fortier-Barnes called it the new campus “living room.”

“‘Dramatic transformation’ are really the words to describe this space,” Fortier-Barnes said.

A balcony and second-floor walkway are carved out of the facade of the library, which was designed in the 1960s by famed architect Paul Rudolph and built in 1973. The building’s architectural style, known as Brutalism, is reflected in other structures around campus.

The walkway connects the new space to the existing library’s five-story structure that underwent a dramatic renovation. The upper floors, once dark and cluttered with pockets of offices, are now bright and open.

Staff office space was moved to the fourth floor, which opened more room for study areas, common space and allowed the architects from designLab of Boston and Austin Architects of Cambridge to open the library with natural light and vista views of the campus.

“Wherever you stand you have a view of the exterior,” said Ben Youtz, project manager for designLAB.

Opening the library to natural light was an important consideration, said Jennifer McGrory, designer at Austin Architects.

“People need some connection with nature,” McGrory said. “There is no question in the daytime its bright and comfortable and at night it glows.”

Possibly the most striking piece of the renovation is the work done in the portion of the library known as the Grand Reading Room, located at ground level and overlooking the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Amphitheater.

The cement walls were knocked down and the space bumped by 10 feet and replaced with one of many high glass curtain-walls. The bright shades of reds and oranges are repeated in the textiles and furnishings, adding hints of purple to compliment the walnut wood throughout.

Equally impressive is the designated quiet area on the second level known as the South Reading Room, which is surrounded on three sides with glass windows in a climate-controlled atmosphere with a view of the amphitheater.

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About 100,000 books belonging to the library’s collection were moved to a new basement space built under the new addition, said Fortier-Barnes, allowing for the elimination of the traditional 7-foot-high stacks on the third and fifth floors and freeing up more study areas.

“Everywhere you look we have good quality student space,” she said.

In addition to creating a special architectural library space, the planners designed the building to be LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for better energy efficiency.

McGrory said there are new electrical and mechanical systems that are 20 percent more energy efficient than the new Massachusetts standards and codes.

More than 90 percent of the demolition material was recycled and all of the wood products used in the construction were certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), meaning the material was harvested sustainably.

The library also boasts the creation of 10 group study rooms, a new circulation desk, new technology, Wi-Fi capability, the Learning Commons and library instruction areas.

Plans for the library project began in 2008 with construction commencing in 2010 by the Consigli Construction Company. The university invested $1 million, with the remainder of costs funded by state-issued bonds.

A formal grand opening of the renovated and expanded library is scheduled for April 2 to kick off UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman’s inauguration festivities. A full schedule of the events focusing on student achievements, alumni, staff and faculty will be released soon.